(i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a technique for analyzing a personal connection network and particularly, is a technique most suitable to determine organizational rigidity.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
A state of a small change in the contents and forms of communication in an organization is called “organizational rigidity”. It is essential to diagnose the degree of “organizational rigidity” and take proper measures in the case of establishing a creative and active organization. The degree of “organizational rigidity” can be examined by various methods. For example, a phenomenon of an NIH syndrome (Not Invented Here Syndrome, Non-patent Reference 1) is known in business administration, and a relation in which a project decreases in performance when the amount of communication of the outside of an organization decreases for a research project or a development project and when the amount of communication of the inside of an organization decreases for a project of technical service has become apparent. Also, Architectural Innovation (Non-patent Reference 2) advocated by Rebecca M. Henderson and Kim B. Clart points out that a certain kind of innovation tends to occur by an informal information exchange between mutual organizations having a distant relation until now. Thus, by measuring and analyzing dialogue actions over the whole company organizational activity, an aspect of the company organizational activity can be searched and thereby, organizational managers or executive officers are made to recognize the present situation of the company organization and a reduction in business performance of a company is prevented and some improvement plans for increasing higher business performance can be suggested.
The present inventors et al. have keenly studied about determination of the degree of “organizational rigidity” by focusing on personal connection information, and have achieved this invention. Incidentally, “personal connection” shall widely refer to a relation among people. Also, the term “a personal connection network” is below used and this shall widely refer to a network formed by a relation among people.
Incidentally, a patent reference related to the invention includes Patent Reference 1. This is not means for directly performing “diagnosis of organizational rigidity based on personal connection information”, but proposes a use method or a processing method of personal connection information.
In “a personal connection data management system and a personal connection search method” of Patent Reference 1, a (so-called Know-Who database) system for generating personal connection information from business data such as a business daily report and a message such as electronic mail and searching a person is proposed. However, personal connection information is generated from records of formal communication or electronic communication, so that connection with an informal person such as “a person being together often” cannot be handled. Also, a difference between personal connection information every organizational member cannot be handled. Further, processing for comparing an organizational state viewed from one member with an organizational state viewed from another member and analyzing the organization cannot be performed.
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 3,446,886
Non-patent Reference 1: R&D Management, 1982, 12, pp. 7-19, Katz, Ralph and Thomas J. Allen
Non-patent Reference 2: Administrative Science Quarterly, 1990, 35, pp. 9-30